SparkNotes: Oliver Twist: Character List Character List Plot Overview Analysis of Major Characters Oliver Twist - The novel’s protagonist. Oliver is an orphan born in a workhouse, and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy toward the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is between nine and twelve years old when the main action of the novel occurs. Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. His true identity is the central mystery of the novel. Read an in-depth analysis of Oliver Twist. Fagin - A conniving career criminal. Fagin takes in homeless children and trains them to pick pockets for him. He is also a buyer of other people’s stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself, preferring to employ others to commit them—and often suffer legal retribution—in his place. Dickens’s portrait of Fagin displays the influence of anti-Semitic stereotypes. Read an in-depth analysis of Fagin. Nancy - A young prostitute and one of Fagin’s former child pickpockets. Nancy is also Bill Sikes’s lover.

Her love for Sikes and her sense of moral decency come into conflict when Sikes abuses Oliver. Despite her criminal lifestyle, she is among the noblest characters in the novel. In effect, she gives her life for Oliver when Sikes murders her for revealing Monks’s plots. Read an in-depth analysis of Nancy. Rose Maylie - Agnes Fleming’s sister, raised by Mrs. Maylie after the death of Rose’s father. A beautiful, compassionate, and forgiving young woman, Rose is the novel’s model of female virtue. She establishes a loving relationship with Oliver even before it is revealed that the two are related. Mr. Brownlow - A well-off, erudite gentleman who serves as Oliver’s first benefactor. Mr. Brownlow owns a portrait of Agnes Fleming and was engaged to Mr. Leeford’s sister when she died. Throughout the novel, he behaves with compassion and common sense and emerges as a natural leader. Monks - A sickly, vicious young man, prone to violent fits and teeming with inexplicable hatred. With Fagin, he schemes to give Oliver a bad reputation. Bill Sikes - A brutal professional burglar brought up in Fagin’s gang.

Sikes is Nancy's pimp and lover, and he treats both her and his dog Bull’s-eye with an odd combination of cruelty and grudging affection. His murder of Nancy is the most heinous of the many crimes that occur in the novel. Mr. Bumble - The pompous, self-important beadle—a minor church official—for the workhouse where Oliver is born. Though Mr. Bumble preaches Christian morality, he behaves without compassion toward the paupers under his care. Dickens mercilessly satirizes his self-righteousness, greed, hypocrisy, and folly, of which his name is an obvious symbol. Agnes Fleming - Oliver’s mother. After falling in love with and becoming pregnant by Mr. Leeford, she chooses to die anonymously in a workhouse rather than stain her family’s reputation. A retired naval officer’s daughter, she was a beautiful, loving woman. Oliver’s face closely resembles hers. Mr. Leeford - Oliver and Monks’s father, who dies long before the events of the novel. He was an intelligent, high-minded man whose family forced him into an unhappy marriage with a wealthy woman. He eventually separated from his wife and had an illicit love affair with Agnes Fleming.

He intended to flee the country with Agnes but died before he could do so. Mr. Losberne - Mrs. Maylie’s family physician. A hot-tempered but good-hearted old bachelor, Mr. Losberne is fiercely loyal to the Maylies and, eventually, to Oliver. Mrs. Maylie - A kind, wealthy older woman, the mother of Harry Maylie and adoptive “aunt” of Rose. Harry Maylie - Mrs. Maylie’s son. Harry is a dashing young man with grand political ambitions and career prospects, which he eventually gives up to marry Rose. The Artful Dodger - The cleverest of Fagin’s pickpockets. The Dodger’s real name is Jack Dawkins. Though no older than Oliver, the Dodger talks and dresses like a grown man. He introduces Oliver to Fagin. Charley Bates - One of Fagin’s pickpockets. Charley is ready to laugh at anything. Old Sally - An elderly pauper who serves as the nurse at Oliver’s birth. Old Sally steals Agnes’s gold locket, the only clue to Oliver’s identity. Mrs. Corney - The matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. Mrs.

Corney is hypocritical, callous, and materialistic. After she marries Mr. Bumble, she hounds him mercilessly. Noah Claypole - A charity boy and Mr. Sowerberry’s apprentice. Noah is an overgrown, cowardly bully who mistreats Oliver and eventually joins Fagin’s gang. Charlotte - The Sowerberrys’ maid. Charlotte becomes romantically involved with Noah Claypole and follows him about slavishly. Toby Crackit - One of Fagin and Sikes’s associates, crass and not too bright. Toby participates in the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie’s home. Mrs. Bedwin - Mr. Brownlow’s kindhearted housekeeper. Mrs. Bedwin is unwilling to believe Mr. Bumble’s negative report of Oliver’s character. Bull’s-eye - Bill Sikes’s dog. As vicious as his master, Bull’s-eye functions as Sikes’s alter ego. Monks’s mother - An heiress who lived a decadent life and alienated her husband, Mr. Leeford. Monks’s mother destroyed Mr. Leeford’s will, which left part of his property to Oliver.

Much of Monks’s nastiness is presumably inherited from her. Mr. Sowerberry - The undertaker to whom Oliver is apprenticed. Though Mr. Sowerberry makes a grotesque living arranging cut-rate burials for paupers, he is a decent man who is kind to Oliver. Mrs. Sowerberry - Sowerberry’s wife. Mrs. Sowerberry is a mean, judgmental woman who henpecks her husband. Mr. Grimwig - Brownlow’s pessimistic, curmudgeonly friend. Mr. Grimwig is essentially good-hearted, and his pessimism is mostly just a provocative character quirk. Mr. Giles - Mrs. Maylie’s loyal, though somewhat pompous, butler. Mr. Brittles - A sort of handyman for Mrs. Maylie’s estate. It is implied that Mr. Brittles is slightly mentally handicapped. Mrs. Mann - The superintendent of the juvenile workhouse where Oliver is raised. Mrs. Mann physically abuses and half-starves the children in her care. Mr. Gamfield - A brutal chimney sweep. Oliver almost becomes Mr. Gamfield’s apprentice.

Bet - One of Fagin’s former child pickpockets, now a prostitute. Mr. Fang - The harsh, irrational, power-hungry magistrate who presides over Oliver’s trial for pickpocketing. Barney - One of Fagin’s criminal associates. Like Fagin, Barney is Jewish. Duff and Blathers - Two bumbling police officers who investigate the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie’s home. Tom Chitling - A rather dim member of Fagin’s gang. Tom has served time in jail for doing Fagin’s bidding. More Help Oliver Twist Characters | GradeSaver Buy Study Guide Oliver Twist Oliver is a young, good-hearted, and kind--but often mistreated--orphan who is raised in a workhouse, and finds himself indentured to an undertaker, living with thieves, and eventually taken in by the kind Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Maylie. His generosity of spirit is total, and even when faced with serious maltreatment, he never loses his sense of morality or kindness.

Fagin A very old man, with a villainous-looking and repulsive face, Fagin is the leader of a gang of boy thieves, and a very greedy and vicious man. It is Fagin who tries to turn Oliver into a thief, and who betrays Nancy to Sikes, leading to her death. Mr. Brownlow Mr. Brownlow is a very respectable-looking elderly gentleman, who has had his heart broken many times, including losing his fiancee on the day of their wedding. He takes a liking to Oliver even after suspecting him of stealing his handkerchief, and takes him in, doing everything he can to help him. Nancy Nancy is a young woman and prostitute raised into that profession by Fagin. Nancy eventually betrays Fagin and Sikes to save Oliver, but she will not leave them, and pays her life for this decision. Bill Sikes A stoutly-built man in his thirties, Bill is a vicious housebreaker and thief who often works with Fagin, and is involved with Nancy. He often mistreats, and eventually kills her. Rose Maylie Rose is Mrs.

Maylie’s niece, a beautiful seventeen-year-old woman, who is both intelligent and perfectly kind. She is an orphan who is taken in by Mrs. Maylie, and ends up marrying Harry Maylie. Mr. Bumble Mr. Bumble is the beadle of the parish, a fat and choleric man who takes great joy in abusing those below him, and is often offended by their impositions on him. Edward Leeford Edward is Oliver’s half-brother, who goes by the alias Monks for most of the novel. He offers to pay Fagin to corrupt Oliver, so that he may have Oliver’s inheritance. He is in his late twenties, but haggard in appearance, with extremely deep set eyes, and suffers from fits. Mrs. Maylie Mrs. Maylie is an older lady, who despite her age is very dignified and stately. She is the owner of the mansion that Sikes and Crackit attempt to rob, the mother of Harry Maylie and the adopted aunt of Rose Maylie. In her kindness, she takes Oliver in.

Jack Dawkins Jack Dawkins is better known as the artful Dodger, he is common looking enough but with the airs and manners of a man, although he is about Oliver’s age. He is Fagin’s best pickpocket, and it is he who finds Oliver and leads him to London and to Fagin’s place. Charley Bates Charley Bates is a sprightly young friend of the Dodger’s and another of Fagin’s boys. He is very excitable, and laughs often. Other than Oliver, he is the only of Fagin’s boys to end up making an honest living. Mrs. Corney Mrs. Corney, later Mrs. Bumble, is the matron of the workhouse at which Oliver was born. She has been a widow for twenty-five years, and ends up marrying, dominating and humiliating Mr. Bumble. Mr. Losberne Mr. Losberne is the doctor who tends to Oliver after the shooting, an eccentric, kind, hearty and fat gentleman, who often acts without forethought, but is universally liked. He agrees to help the ladies try to protect Oliver. Mrs. Bedwin Mrs. Bedwin is Mr. Brownlow’s housekeeper.

She is a kind and motherly old lady who takes care of Oliver in his illness, and never doubts his honesty even when he disappears with Mr. Brownlow’s books and money. Mr. Grimwig Mr. Grimwig is an old friend of Mr. Brownlow’s, who is a little rough in manners, but a worthy man. He is a stout old gentleman who talks something like a parrot and has a strong taste for contradiction, and threatening to eat his own head. Noah Claypole Noah is a charity-boy with a fierce look who works for the undertaker and enjoys bullying Oliver. He later, with Charlotte, steals from the Sowerberrys and runs away to London, where he joins Fagin’s gang. Harry Maylie Harry is Mrs. Maylie’s son. He is about 25, has a frank and handsome face and an easy demeanor, and is deeply in love with Rose. Although first ambitious, he chooses to be come a country cleric so that he will be on Rose’s level, and she will agree to marry him. Mr. Giles Mr. Giles is a rather fat man who works as butler and steward to Mrs. Maylie.

He shoots Oliver during the robbery, which he is at first very proud of, then very guilty about. Toby Crackit Bill Sikes’s partner in crime, Toby is known for his flashiness and ability to seduce servants into helping him and Sikes break in. Mr. Sowerberry Mr. Sowerberry is the parochial undertaker, a tall and gaunt man, who takes Oliver on as an indentured servant. He rather likes Oliver, but cannot stand up to his wife’s hatred of the orphan. Mrs. Sowerberry Mrs. Sowerberry is the undertaker’s wife, a short, thin woman with a vixenish countenance, who has a strong dislike for Oliver, and treats him accordingly. Mr. Brittles Mr. Brittles is a short and heavy man who has worked for Mrs. Maylie since he was a child as a “lad of all-work.” Everyone in the household still considers him a boy, although he is in his thirties. Barney Barney is the waiter at The Three Cripples. He has a very nasal voice and also works for Toby Crackit.

Charlotte The Sowerberry’s servant, Charlotte will do anything for Noah Claypole, including stealing twenty pounds from the Sowerberry’s and running away to London. Tom Chitling Another of Fagin’s boys, Chitling is eighteen, but not as accomplished a thief as the Dodger, and has just come from spending six weeks in jail. Mr. Blathers Mr. Blathers is an officer from Bow Street, a stout man of about fifty, who comes to Mrs. Maylie’s after the robbery. Mr. Duff Mr. Duff is an officer from Bow Street, a red-headed, bony man with a sinister expression, who comes to Mrs. Maylie’s after the robbery. Dick Dick is a young companion of Oliver’s at the workhouse, who blesses Oliver as he runs away from the undertaker’s. Dick dies before Oliver can come back to save him. Betsy Betsy is a young woman prostitute who visits at Fagan's. Sheis a little messy and not quite pretty, but free and easy and hearty. She goes crazy when she sees Nancy's dead body. Mrs. Mann Mrs. Mann runs the orphanage where Oliver grows up.

She keeps for herself most of the money allotted by the parish for the care of the orphans, and neglects them rather steadily. Mrs. Thingummy Also known as Old Sally, Mrs. Thingummy is an old woman pauper who acts as nurse during Oliver’s delivery, while having had a little too much beer. She steals a locket from Oliver’s dead mother, which holds the key to his identity. Mr. Fang Mr. Fang is the magistrate to whom Oliver is taken when accused of stealing the handkerchief. He is a lean, long-backed, stiff-necked, middle-sized balding man, with a stern and flushed face. The bookstall keeper The bookstall keeper is the man who saw the robbing of Mr. Brownlow, and convinces Mr. Fang to drop the charges against Oliver. Mr. Kags Mr. Kags is a fifty-year-old robber and ex-convict with a scarred face, who is companions with Toby Crackit Mr. Gamfield Mr. Gamfield is a chimney sweep who is in debt to his landlord, and so is intrigued by the workhouse’s offer of Oliver and, more importantly, five pounds.

He is a very cruel man who has already caused the death of several young chimneysweeps apprenticed to him. Mr. Lively The Characters of "Oliver Twist" the novel by Charles Dickens Posted on 2011/08/30 by keiran Character List Oliver Twist – The novel’s staring role. Our star is orphaned into a life in a workhouse as result of his mother being found dying in the street, Charles Dickens uses the situation of Oliver being in a workhouse in order to expose his views of the vile workhouse and the poverty law that had been passed in Victorian London. Our heroin Oliver Twist is somewhere between nine to twelve years of age as the majority of the novel unfolds. You would assume that with the barbaric treatment that Oliver receives throughout his life that he would in fact be a bitter and twisted soul, on the contrary, Oliver is a pious, innocent child, whose charming demeanor plays on the heart strings of a series of wealthy benefactors. Oliver’s actual identity is at the very heart of the novel and unfolds towards the conclusion of the novel. Fagin – A despicable life long criminal.

Fagin is a convincing and conniving man who prays on homeless children by offering them board and lodgings to win over their trust. Once the child is won over Fagin trains the innocence to pick pockets for him. Fagin also trades in the stolen goods of others. One to distance himself from the front line Fagin very rarely carries out illegal activity himself. Nancy – One of Fagin’s former child pickpockets now turned prostitute. As if life was not tough enough she is also the notorious Bill Sikes’s lover. Alike many others in the novel Nancy takes a shine for Oliver and she questions her love for Bill when he abuses Oliver. Regardless of her illegal activity Nancy is by far one of the noblest feature characters in the Oliver Twist novel. The greatest example of Nancy’s moral servitude to Oliver must be when she gave her life to save his. (Bill Sikes murders Nancy after she is overheard on London Bridge) Bill Sikes – One of Fagin’s first disciples, Sikes is a brutal professional burglar trained in Fagin’s gang. As well as a thief Sikes doubles as Nancy’s pimp and as well as her lover.

Sikes show equal respect to his English Bulldog Bull’s-eye, a mixture of cruelty and hard earned affection. Bill Sikes shows his true inhumanity with His brutal murder of his lover Nancy. Rose Maylie – Sister of Agnes Fleming. Rose was raised by Mrs Maylie after the death of her father. A truly beautiful and compassionate soul. Rose show a lot of compassion to Oliver even before it is unraveled trough the novel that the two gentle souls are in fact related. Mr. Brownlow – A wealthy, decent gentleman who sees the potential in Oliver and subsequently takes him in. It transpires that Mr. Brownlow owns a commissioned portrait of Agnes Fleming (Rose Maylies’s Sister) and at the time of Mr. Leeford’s sisters death was engaged to her. Mr Brownlow always acts with absolute decency and compassion for Oliver Twist. Monks – A nasty and unpredictable young chap, known for violent rages and seething with a stupendous level of hatred for the world. Monks couples with Fagin to make Oliver’s life impossible. Mr. Leeford – The father of Oliver and Monks’s who tragically dies long before our story begins.

A bright man who resided miserably in a family arranged marriage to a wealthy woman. In the build up to the novel Mr Leeford separates from his wife and engages in an illicit love affair with the good lady Agnes Fleming, the result was Oliver Twist. In a moment of despair and love the two couple attempted to elope to be together, unfortunately Mr Leeford Died before they could get away. Agnes Fleming – Oliver Twist’s mother. In the time leading up to the time of the tale Agnes falls deeply in love with Mr. Leeford, as a result she falls pregnant outside of wedlock. Being a highly moral woman and not wanting to tarnish her families good reputation Agnes opts for a life in the work house where she dies and our tale begins . Agnes was the daughter of a retired naval officer, a truly beautiful, caring woman. Mr. Bumble – A power monger and self important man. Although a minor church official for the workhouse, Mr. Bumble professes to be a good Christian man, however his treatment of the poor within his care tells another story.

Dickens mercilessly satirizes his self-righteousness, greed, hypocrisy, and folly, of which his name is an obvious symbol. Toby Crackit – An associate of Fagin and Bill Sikes’s, Not of intelligence. Toby takes part in the burglary of Mrs. Maylie’s home which leads to Oliver’s Salvation. Mr. Losberne – Mrs. Maylie’s family physician. Mr. Losberne is extremely loyal to the Maylies and Oliver, some may say a hot-tempered man but good hearten all the same. Mrs. Maylie – The adoptive “aunt” of Rose and mother of Harry Maylie. A lovely, Kind, wealthy mature woman. Harry Maylie – The born son of Mrs. Maylie’s. Harry is a highly driven and dashing young man who sports impressive political views and ambitions. Harry sacrifices all of his ambitions to marry Rose. The Artful Dodger – One of the most colorful characters in the novel and by far the most skilled of Fagin’s pickpockets. The Dodger’s born identity is that of Jack Dawkins. Dodger is responsible for introducing Oliver to Fagin.

A wise, savvy and independent individual Dodger is no older than Oliver Twist although his demeanor and dress is that of a mature man. Charley Bates – Another of Fagin’s faithful pickpockets. Charley is a colorful character who is prepared to laugh at anytime. Old Sally – An old poor midwife/woman who tends as a nurse at the time of Oliver’s birth. Old Sally swipes a gold locket that is the possession of Agnes’s. This locket is the only clue that would have pointed to the true identity of Oliver. Mrs. Corney – The wife of Mr Bumble and matron of the workhouse. A callous and hypocritical women, with materialistic tendencies. Noah Claypole – Mr. Sowerberry’s apprentice. Noah is an overgrown, cowardly bully. He repeatedly mistreats Oliver Twist and eventually joins Fagin’s gang. Charlotte – The maid to Mr Sowerberry. Charlotte becomes entwined romantically with Noah Claypole and follows him around like rejected dog. Mrs. Bedwin – A kindhearted woman with great judge of character and Mr. Brownlow’s housekeeper. It’s this good judge of character that results in Mrs.

Bedwin not believing Mr. Bumble’s negative report of Oliver’s character. Bull’s-eye – A Viscous dog owned by Bill Sikes. As temperament that matches that of his master. It is said that Bull’s-eye represents Sikes’s alter ego. Mr. Gamfield – Oliver has a narrow escape when he very nearly becomes the apprentice to this brutal chimney sweep. Monks’s mother – , Mr. Leeford wife and wealthy heiress who lived a decadent life and alienated her husband. In a moment of pure spite Monks’s mother destroys Mr. Leeford’s will and testament that bestows part of his inheritance to Oliver. Mr. Sowerberry – Oliver’s first employer to whom he is apprenticed. Although Mr. Sowerberry’s living is a hideous affair, arranging and carrying out cut-rate burials for paupers, it is to be said that Mr Sowerberry is a decent man who treats Oliver Twist well. Mrs. Sowerberry – The wife of Mr Sowerberry. A callous henpecking old woman who treats Oliver and her husband with equal disrespect.

Oliver Twist Characters from LitCharts | The creators of SparkNotes Two doltish investigators who attempt to see whether Oliver was one of the robbers of the Maylies' home, they are misled by Losborne and sent back to London with misleading information; Losborne makes it seem… (read full character analysis) Minor Characters Mrs. Bedwin Oliver's nurse when he lives, briefly, with Brownlow early in the novel. Mrs. Bedwin is Brownlow's maid. She never believes that Oliver is not virtuous, even when Oliver disappears. Mr. Grimwig Brownlow's cantankerous friend, Grimwig does not believe, initially, in Oliver's virtue, and commonly uses the expression, "I'll eat my hat." At the end of the novel, he enjoys joking about how he used to not believe in Oliver's goodness, once Oliver proves it. Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry A coffin-maker and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry take Oliver in as an apprentice after the workhouse. Sowerberry takes something of a liking to Oliver, and makes him a "mute" mourner at funerals, but Mrs. Sowerberry never likes or trusts Oliver.

Noah Claypole An older apprentice to Sowerberry, Noah picks a fight with Oliver and ends up blaming Oliver for it; he later makes his way to London and winds up serving as a spy for Fagin, overhearing Nancy's conversation with Brownlow and Rose. Charlotte Noah's partner and lover, Charlotte goes with Noah to London, and at the end of the novel, the two have become a con-men pair in the city. Sikes The third of the novel's antagonists, Sikes is a brutal "housebreaker," or robber, who takes Oliver with him on the failed robbery of the Maylies' house. Sikes later kills Nancy in a fit of rage, and accidentally kills himself while fleeing an angry mob. The Artful Dodger The most skilled of Fagin's young boy-thieves, the Artful Dodger is a talented pickpocket and card-shark. The Artful Dodger is caught by the police for stealing a snuff box late in the novel, and is observed, by Noah, being sent to jail in a triumphant and defiant manner.

Bet One of Nancy's fellow female thieves, Bet has a small part in the novel, and is mostly notable for being the object of Tom Chitling's romantic interest. Mrs. Maylie Rose's aunt, Mrs. Maylie takes care of Rose after the "blight" on Rose's family name, deriving from Agnes Fleming's pregnancy and death. Agnes, it is revealed later, is Rose's sister. Toby Crackit Another housebreaker, Toby accompanies Sikes and Oliver on the robbery of the Maylies' house. It is revealed that Crackit is something of a coward, as he runs away at the first sound of gunshots, after the robbery is botched. Tom Chitling Another of the young robbers in Fagin's gang, Tom is mostly notable for his love of Bet and his dim wit—he is beaten by the Dodger repeatedly in cards. Mrs. Bumble (Mrs. Corney) Married to Bumble, Mrs. Bumble takes a package from Old Sally once belonging to Agnes, and sells this information to Monks. This small crime causes the Bumbles to lose their social station and, eventually, to wind up in the poorhouse they once managed. Mrs.

Mann A maid at the poorhouse annex near which Oliver was born, Mrs. Mann is in charge of Oliver very early in his life, before he is sent to work in the poorhouse for adults. The man in the white waistcoat A member of the poorhouse's board, the man in the white waistcoat is notable for shouting, constantly, that he believes Oliver will one day be hanged for his "vices." Dick A small friend of Oliver's at the workhouse, Dick gives Oliver a blessing when Oliver is running away to London near the beginning of the novel. Oliver hopes, at the novel's end, to return this blessing, but does not have the chance, as Dick, sadly, has died. Giles and Brittles Two servants of the Maylie household, Giles accidentally shoots the "robber" who winds up being Oliver, and Brittles, with Giles, seeks out the "robber" that night, only to have Oliver stumble back to the house the next day. Barney Another of Fagin's associates, Barney works at the Cripples, a pub with which Fagin is involved, and where criminals often meet. Barney is notable for speaking with a constant headcold.

Monks' mother Oliver's father's first wife, Monks' mother takes a good deal of Oliver's inheritance for herself and for Monks. Old Sally The woman who nursed Agnes just as she was giving birth to Oliver, Old Sally dies later in the novel, and Mrs. Bumble takes from her a small package that she (Mrs. Bumble) later sells to Monks. Cite This Page Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist at Berkeley Rep Prologue: from the Artistic Director Melodrama, re(de)fined Melodrama is a dramatic style which has, over the years, fallen into disfavor. Its penchant for heightened states of emotion, florid rhetoric, actions that seem obvious or unbelievable, characters who are wholly good or bad—all these features seem inauthentic to our current, reality based sensibilities. The very word has become synonymous with “too much” or “over the top” or “untrue.” When trying to appear intelligent, we frequently champion the sleek, clear lines of tragedy over the wild mix of sentiments and style inherent in melodrama. For Charles Dickens and his large, rapt audience, the opposite was true.

With each new installment of his novels (most were released chapter by chapter in newspapers and magazines), readers were left hanging to discover what wild twists of plot, what dastardly doings, what morally outrageous events would be revealed in the next episode. They waited with baited breath to see if the invariably innocent, idealistic heroes of Dickens’ stories would survive the vicious and interminable suffering inflicted by the villain. Yet the key to Dickens’ success was his ability to marry a terrifically entertaining writing style with a vivid and shocking description of the truth. His searing, moving portrayals of people trapped in the social landscape of 19th century London have left an indelible memory on anyone who has read his books. He knew first-hand about the horror of child labor, knew about the tragedy behind every bankruptcy, knew about the rapacious appetite of men whose sole purpose in life was to acquire more wealth. His unparalleled popularity (his books have never gone out of print) was based not only in his ability to escape reality through gorgeous prose, but to depict hyper-realistic, epic scenarios that capture the titanic force of history and the universal qualities of human behavior. This ingenious aesthetic strategy is being employed to this very day.

Is the melodramatic technique employed by Dickens so different from the one used by some of our best modern writers? Are the twists of fate in Oliver Twist so different from those in Amores Perros? Is the exploitation of stereotype used to create the indelible portrait of the Jewish villain Fagin any different from those used to create his modern Italian counterpart, Tony Soprano? Is our collective yearning for a happy ending to Oliver’s story any different from what we feel at the end of Angels in America? How ironic, then, that what British Director Neil Bartlett has done in restoring Oliver Twist to its melodramatic roots feels surprisingly radical. Digging into the original text, uncovering the contradictory mores of Victorian England, re-conceiving the entire event as a human “penny dreadful” (the original pulp fiction), Bartlett and his collaborators have attempted to reassert the vitality of Oliver Twist. They have created an event whose force is not beneath the surface, but is a part of the surface. Embracing the fact that melodrama was the perfect vehicle for Dickens to describe his world, Bartlett and company seek to celebrate the form itself, with all its disparate elements and stylistic choices.

By doing so, they have de-mythologized Oliver Twist, reclaiming the piece as a dark, wild, strange, funny, melodramatic entertainment. And as a piece of art. Tony Taccone Staging Dickens: Making a new stage version of Oliver Twist By Neil Bartlett Any new stage version of a story which the audience feels they not only know but own before the curtain even rises has to do two apparently contradictory things. It has to deliver all the famous bits (so that no one feels shortchanged), but also has to make the audience feel that they are encountering the story anew, afresh; that they are hearing and seeing things which they either never knew or had forgotten were there. The first decision taken in making this adaptation was that it would be made out of Dickens’ original language and nothing but. With the exception of one or two short phrases necessitated by the telescoping of the novel’s plot, this is a decision which has been abided by. Indeed, the extraordinary energy and volatility, the sadistic black comedy and sheer dramatic guts of Dickens’ actual sentences are the raisons d’être of this piece.

Returning to the original words—even for the singing in the show—was the main way in which I hoped to avoid any bowdlerization of the tale. I wanted the show to be as alarming, as compelling and as wickedly comic as Dickens’ words are. Of course, which words I have chosen to include, and which words I have chosen to omit, reveal what I personally care most about in this story. I hope. The question of tone “It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodrama, to present the tragic and the comic scenes, in as regular alternation, as the layers of red and white in a side of streaky bacon. The hero sinks upon his bed, weighed down by misfortune; the next scene regales the audience with comic song.”—Oliver Twist, Chapter 17 What do we mean by the word ‘Dickensian’? Not, I think, simply subject matter taken from the lower depths of urban poverty. Rather, I think we mean a distinctive way of dramatizing what is seen.

The first nineteenth-century stagings of Oliver Twist—some made even before the final parts of the original, serialized novel had been published—have scripts of quite extraordinary ferocity and brevity. One of them gets the whole proceedings down to 30 handwritten pages, and still finds time for plenty of rambling low comedy from the Bumbles. They all seek to unashamedly achieve one objective—namely, to rouse the audience. To achieve this end, they employ the most remarkable combinations of comedy with horror, satire with sentiment. They demand that the audience enjoys the most alarming leaps of dramatic tone. They are also very fond of (and good at) employing those most powerful forms of theatrical shorthand—the baldly stated moral, the tableau and the melodrama. In doing all of this they are of course entirely in keeping with Dickens’ own dramatic and dramatizing instincts in Oliver Twist. Dickens is, paradoxically, the most serious of writers, in that he takes this task of engaging us, his audience, with such wholehearted seriousness. I wanted to create an adaptation that would not shy away from this seriousness, but rather relish it; that would demand of its actors they engage with their audience above all else.

This is why the script does not try to shift Dickens into some solid or polite middle ground of dialogue-based, psychologized ‘literary’ theatre, but lets his story move alarmingly (demandingly) through all its intensely-felt and highly-colored original shifts of theatrical tone. It is only when melodrama is allowed to rub shoulders with psychodrama, when sensationalism combines with fierce and socially committed satire, that you arrive in the particular world of the dramatic imagination that we can only describe with the tautology ‘Dickensian.’ The set “Sudden shiftings of scene, and rapid changes of time and place, are not only sanctioned in books, by long usage, but are by many considered a great art.”—Oliver Twist, Chapter 17 The first visual and physical inspiration for our set was a visit to the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussauds. This not only renewed my interest in the unheimlich appeal of waxworks, especially those depicting extreme violence, but also triggered in designer Rae Smith’s imagination a connection between the sensationalist mechanics of Dickens’ plot—its combination of creaky contrivance with uncanny power—with the mechanical toys which we now know as ‘Penny Dreadful’ machines.

These are the sinister glass-fronted boxes which, in response to a child inserting the required coin, bring to life miniature tableaux of haunted houses, historic crimes or mildly erotic misdemeanors. One of these boxes, emptied and magnified, as if by a child’s imagination, provided the basic setting. The early-19th century theatrical vocabulary of fly ropes, trapdoors, footlights and two-dimensional scenery also influenced the design of the show, allowing and indeed encouraging a script which cuts and dissolves from scene to scene without any establishing shots (to confuse matters by employing a cinematic vocabulary)—and, largely, without any narrative linking passages. The music “The preliminaries adjusted, they proceeded with flourishes of most unmusical snatches of song, mingled with wild execrations.”—Oliver Twist, Chapter 26 The popular theatre which Dickens knew and loved was almost all, in the original sense of the word, melodrama; an evening at the theatre without live music barely existed in the first half of the 19th century.

This script, too, is a melodrama, in that the telling of the story presupposes that the actors work with (and sometimes against) music in their telling of that story, and the creation of the different places and atmospheres which that story takes us to. The music is all adapted from popular early-19th century music-hall numbers contemporary with the novel, and arranged for an authentic (if somewhat alarming) early Victorian combination of violin, serpent and hurdy-gurdy. The plot “The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”—Miss Prism, The Importance of Being Earnest This is a story with a single overriding desire; to find a family for its orphan hero. Every scene in the book can be read in this light; every character too. In the absence of Oliver’s mother, Mr. and Mrs. Bumble, Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry—even Noah Claypole and Charlotte—all attempt, in their various twisted ways, to mother him. Fagin and Mr. Brownlow, in their archetypically opposite worlds, construct surrogate families for Oliver. Everyone (even Mr. Grimwig) is convinced that they know the right way for the boy to live.

All of these conflicting dreams of family life, so deeply rooted in their creator’s own childhood, are powerful; Nancy’s dream of a possible home for Oliver—her determination that he will have the childhood she knows has been stolen from her—is so fierce that it kills her. In editing Dickens’ labyrinthine plot, I wanted to arrive at a script whose economy would encourage the actors to concentrate on trying to get back to the blunt realities of the original cast-list. Nancy is, after all, a teenage prostitute with a violent owner, not a musical-comedy star; the boys Fagin says he finds sleeping rough at Kings Cross are very like the teenagers who still sleep rough there; Bill is a violent housebreaker and a coward; Fagin is Jewish, and his vicious rage is that of someone who lives excluded from everything we might conceivably call society. Some of the events of the great final working-out of the story may surprise audiences who only know it from films. I’ve kept what for me is the greatest and strangest scene of the book, where, on the night before his death, Fagin goes mad with terror, and in his madness realizes that Oliver is ‘somehow the cause of all this.’ I’ve taken Mr.

Brownlow and Rose seriously. I’ve dared to kill off not just Nancy and Bill, but Fagin and the Dodger, as Dickens does. I’ve even dared to believe, as Dickens did, that after all the strange violent parodies of family life that claim him—the brutal workhouse of the Bumbles, the gothic funeral-parlor of the Sowerberries, the nightmare inversion of all maternal values in Fagin’s den—the motherless Oliver’s destiny is the one we must all, despite our evidence to the contrary, believe in: safety. Oliver Twist (Literature) - TV Tropes Oliver Twist You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share "Please, sir, I want some more." — Oliver Twist A novel by Charles Dickens , originally published as a serial in Bentley's Miscellany between 1837 and 1839. Oliver Twist is born an orphan and raised to a young age in a cruel workhouse that exploits the poor. Eventually he escapes the workhouse, only to run afoul of the London underworld.

He's recruited into a pickpocket gang, but rescued by a kindly gentlemen who discovers Oliver's real identity and finally finds him a happy home. The story is one of Dickens' most famous tales and includes some of his most enduring characters, including the crooked Jewish ringleader Fagin and the sly Artful Dodger. Like many of Dickens' works, the novel contains a great deal of social commentary on the way British society at the time treated its poor. Of particular note is the famous scene in which the starving Oliver begs for more gruel from the workhouse cook and is harshly punished. The story has been adapted many times throughout the years, including: Oliver Twist (1922), featuring Lon Chaney as Fagin Oliver Twist (1948), directed by David Lean and featuring Alec Guinness as Fagin Las Aventuras de Oliver Twist, a Mexican animated adaptation. This book contains examples of: Adorkable : Mr. Brownlow at times seems to give off this vibe. All Girls Want Bad Boys : Played with. Nancy is fiercely loyal to the abusive Sikes, though she has no illusions about what he is. On the other hand, Rose falls for the Incorruptibly Pure Harry.

Adults Are Useless : Played straight then later subverted. This includes the magistrate who refuses to give Oliver over to a chimney sweeper (who is obviously going to use him to clean chimneys until he gets stuck in one and can't get out just like every other boy he's adopted) when he sees Oliver is obviously terrified by the man. This is the first time an adult actually shows genuine kindness and concern for Oliver, a poor, sweet little orphan boy. Then there was Mr. Brownlow, who pretty much offers to adopt the young boy, his lovely housekeeper, his grumpy friend Mr. Grimwig, and then of course the Maylie family. Dirty Coward : Monks prefers to get others to do his dirty work for him, and he's shown to be easily intimidated when Mr Brownlow questions him. Noah Claypole is even worse. Fagin and Sikes may be criminals, but at least they're willing to be bold about it. Noah considers stealing the bags from old ladies too dangerous for him, despite acting The Bully whenever he's alone with someone younger and weaker than him. When he's captured, he immediately sells out Fagin to escape prison.

Disproportionate Retribution : Oliver asks for a second helping of food and is severely punished for it. (This was intended as a cutting satire on social conditions, of course.) To modern eyes, having a kid deported because you found a stolen snuffbox on him seems a tad harsh. Disney Villain Death : Bill Sikes technically dies by falling off a roof. But he never hits the ground, because he gets a rope tangled around his neck on the way down. Bullseye the dog then gives a straight example. Domestic Abuser : Bill Sikes, to Nancy; Noah Claypole, to Charlotte (to a certain extent, anyway; it's verbal, not physical); Widow Corney, to Mr Bumble; and Mrs Sowerberry, to Mr Sowerberry. The last two probably qualify more as Henpecked Husband , but it's still portrayed as somewhat abusive. Even Evil Has Standards : Charley may be a pickpocket and street urchin, but he's VERY upset when Sikes kills Nancy.

Females Are More Innocent : Most of the women are wholesome, decent people (special mention goes to The Ingenue Rose), save for Nancy, who is a Love Martyr for Bill Sikes, someone who is less than pleasant. But Nancy, compared with the other members of Fagin's gang, is still the most moral of them. To be fair with the use of this assumption, male members of Fagin's gang get to live Tom Sawyer's dream, and the females get to be sluts in the eyes of the public. Oliver's father stipulates in his will that Agnes' child, should it be a girl, will get an inheritance unconditionally. If the child was born a boy, he could only claim his inheritance provided that he should not have done anything to publicly dishonor his name during his minority. Which is why Edwin's first son Edward/Monks wants to completely discredit his half-brother Oliver, who is said child. Subverted, somewhat humorously, with the Bumbles.

While Mr Bumble is by no means innocent, the fact that his wife would be seen by law as 'acting under his influence', thus less guilty, is shown to be absurd since he's a Henpecked Husband subjected to Domestic Abuse from her. Bumble even lampshades it, stating that the law must be a bachelor and an idiot. Subverted with Mrs Mann, the baby farm keeper. While the farm gets enough money to feed them, she keeps most of it to herself while underfeeding the children to the edge of starvation. Mortality rate due to neglect and starvation is a staggering 85 percent. Even the otherwise neglectful parish is disturbed by the rumors, but nothing is ever proven. Rose Maylie, a virtuous, pure, innocent, beloved seventeen-year-old ingenue to Nancy, a miserable, alcoholic, unloved, hardened prostitute who happens to be seventeen years old. Mr. Brownlow to Fagin. Harry Maylie to Bill Sikes. Oliver to the Artful Dodger.

Getting Crap Past the Radar : Charley Bates, who is always going around with his hands and is prone to fits of laughter, is frequently referred to as "Master Bates." This might be interpreted as simply an instance of Have a Gay Old Time , but as the term "masturbate" was already in use when Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, and had the same meaning then as it does today, it seems more likely it was completely intentional. In one scene, Nancy rages at Fagin for corrupting her when she was a child. While Fagin explicitly employs several individuals in different illegal activities (pickpockets, housebreakers, spies), Dickens has separately confirmed that, yes, he's also a pimp, and Nancy (and probably Bet) are prostitutes. Greedy Jew : Dickens indulges in this trope to the hilt with Fagin, however it does not appear that Dickens himself held any grudge against Jews. Creating exaggerated characters out of all walks of life was simply his stock in trade. He also claimed that he only made Fagin Jewish because he legitimately believed that most London "kidsmen" were Jewish.

Later in life, Dickens befriended some Jewish people and discovered that they were, rather understandably, offended by the character; by way of apology, he want back and excised many references to Fagin's faith. Perhaps even more offensive than Fagin is Barney, the barman at The Three Cripples, who gets no characterisation beyond that he's Jewish, greedy, ugly, evil, and has a speech impediment. Hard-Drinking Party Girl : Nancy, though she also shows shades of The Alcoholic . Fagin gets all his female wards addicted to alcohol. Though the reason is never given, it's most likely so that they'll be more dependent and/or more pleasant company. Have a Gay Old Time : Charley Bates is frequently called "Master Bates." Unless you view that as a deliberate attempt at Getting Crap Past the Radar , it might be an instance of this trope. The intended humor then lies in the fact that Charley is a street urchin unlikely to deserve such an honorific. After helping kidnap him, Nancy starts to care for Oliver and betrays Fagin in order to protect the child. Note: she does not turn on Sikes, and refuses to leave him.

If only he knew that . . . Charley Bates is the only one of Fagin's associates who fully reforms. The eventual outcome of Mr. Bumble's marriage to the Widow Corney. Also Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry. Heterosexual Life-Partners : The Dodger and Charley Bates, Brownlow and Grimwig, the Doctor and Grimwig (they become this after the events of the book, anyway). If the fact that Bet cried and screamed over Nancy's death to the point where she was sent to a mental institution is any indication of their closeness/friendship, they probably were. Also Brownlow and Oliver's Disappeared Dad Edwin Leeford, to the point of becoming his Secret Keeper . Hooker with a Heart of Gold : Nancy. Charles Dickens stated in a preface written for the full novel that "the girl is a prostitute." Edwin Leefort was on both ends of this. First he married a much older woman (Monks's mother) and theirs was a very unhappy union. After his wife's death he met a much younger girl named Agnes and they hit it off, but he suddenly died and Agnes ran away from her family. And we all know what happened to her .

And he, married at about twenty to a thirty-year-old woman, was treated almost like a child sold to some old hag, while him taking interest in a nineteen-year old girl more than ten years later, was perfectly okay in terms of age . Also, Bill Sikes was thirty-five and Nancy was about seventeen. Meaningful Name : Many, as Dickens is known for this. The most obvious include Bumble, Crackit, Grimwig and Fang. Missing Mom : Oliver's mother Agnes dies at the beginning of the novel. Nice Hat : The Artful Dodger is mentioned to wear a hat which (like the rest of his attire) doesn't quite fit, but which stays on his head at all times because he's developed the habit of jerking his head just right to keep it on. One early illustrator decided that the hat should be a slightly-battered top hat, which has since become a beloved icon of the character. No Celebrities Were Harmed : Mr. Fang is based on the hot-tempered magistrate Allan Laing. Obviously Evil : Dickens describes Sikes in these terms. He even says that his legs alone wouldn't look right without manacles on them.

Orphanage of Fear : Though it's actually a workhouse, Oliver Twist features probably the most infamous orphanage in literature. And this is AFTER surviving the horrors of the baby farm... The Artful Dodger, Charley Bates and the rest of Fagin's pickpockets, including Oliver. Nancy was this once, as well, before Fagin put her on the street and became her pimp. Strong Family Resemblance : Mr. Brownlow started to have thoughts about Oliver's true identity when he noticed that he looked a LOT like the portrait of Agnes that he kept at his home... The Summation : At the end, Mr. Brownlow assembles everyone in a room to explain the mystery of Monks' relationship to Oliver. This Bed of Rose's : Nancy takes Oliver under her wing and is determined to raise him to be a respectable young man. Too Good for This Sinful Earth : Comes very close to playing this straight with Rose but ultimately subverts it. Trailers Always Spoil : When the completed novel was reprinted in parts, the very first cover gave away Fagin's imprisonment and Bill Sikes' death.

Trap Door : Monks meets Mr and Mrs Bumble in his derelict warehouse hideout, and after their conversation reveals that they had been sitting on a trapdoor that he could have used to drop them in the river had he wished. Truth in Television : Charles Dickens wrote the book based on many problems that were prevalent in English society at the time. Fagin was a representative of a type of criminal found in the slums of that day, called a "kidsman." They would train young runaways and "throwaway" children to pick pockets, and pay them for the proceeds, as well as providing a place to sleep. Oliver Twist himself gets used as what was called a "snakesman"—-a young child or very small adult who could insinuate himself into places where an adult could not pass, to open doors and allow older, larger confederates to enter. Villainous Breakdown : Sikes after murdering Nancy; Fagin while awaiting execution. Would Hit a Girl : Sikes, who physically abuses Nancy. This includes the fatal beating of her toward the end of the novel.

Wouldn't Hurt a Child : The Maylie family's manservant, Giles, is quite proud of the fact he managed to shoot one of the would be intruders who tried to break into the household. Until he realizes he shot Oliver, at which point he essentially turns white with sheer horror. Tropes unique to the 1922 film: All Part of the Show : Oliver dives under a puppet show booth, only to be immediately caught by the man pursuing him. The audience briefly thinks it's part of the show before the rest of the crowd chasing Oliver shows up. Coordinated Clothes : During his brief time as apprentice to Mr. Sowerberry, Oliver wears a suit that matches Sowerberry's, including a top hat with a long tail. Dream Sequence : Oliver, after going to bed hungry in the workhouse, dreams of a spoon and a plate dancing. Impairment Shot : Everything goes fuzzy before Oliver faints in court. Pragmatic Adaptation : Besides dropping a lot of plot points in order to squeeze the story into a 74-minute movie, the film fixes the egregious Contrived Coincidences from the novel. The film omits the bits about Rose being Oliver's aunt and Mr.

Browlow being Oliver's father's friend; they are simply nice people who wind up taking an interest in Oliver. :: Indexes ::

Question: In which Dickens' novel do the characters Aunt Rose, Charley Bates and Toby Crackit appear?
Answer: Oliver Twist